How a Healthcare Innovation Boosts Productivity and Cuts Costs

The bad news? Healthcare costs are rising and nationwide healthcare programs face an uncertain future. The good news? Employers are in a unique position to take charge of their healthcare spending by reducing health risk and improving their employees’ health.

Be Proactive, Be Prepared

The connection between health, job performance, healthcare costs, and engagement is clear. Healthy employees are more productive, have lower overall healthcare expenses, and are more present on the job. Do the math. Improved workforce health means significant cost savings.

“Data directly from our customers proves that engaged employees who use a Marathon Health onsite health center cost 34 percent less than those that do not use the health center. Better yet, employees with chronic conditions – the primary consumers of the health center – cost even less with a savings of 44 percent.” – Ann Hartman, PhD, VP of customer experience, Marathon Health.

Innovative employers are proactively managing employee health risks by bringing primary care, occupational health, wellness programs, and preventive care screenings directly to the worksite in the form of onsite health centers.

“Our healthcare spend trending rate is down 12 percent since opening the health center, which is unbelievable.” – Kevin Windham, risk management director, Escambia County School District

How to Deliver Successful Onsite Healthcare to the Workforce

Onsite health centers focused on population health risk management can help build a healthy workforce. Get started by following these four steps:

1. Identify Risk: Knowing the health risks of your employee population and the potential impact provides a roadmap for benefits managers and the health center clinical staff to get started. Claims data, biometric screening results, and Health Risk Assessment survey responses build a comprehensive population health report.
2. Manage Risk: At this stage, the onsite health center provides patients the tools they need to change their unhealthy behaviors and improve their health. Health coaching and comprehensive screening helps patients understand their personalized wellness score and risk profile before they begin their health journey.
3. Change Utilization: Through this process, employees begin to make better, smarter healthcare decision for themselves. The result? Lower healthcare costs. Rather than utilizing expensive healthcare resources, such as the ER, employees are healthier resulting in fewer ER, UC, specialty care visits, and hospital stays.
4. Capture Savings: We know engaged employees cost less than non-engaged employees. Onsite health centers document lower medical claims, fewer work loss days, and higher employee productivity.

“There’s a correlation with having the health center onsite and hard dollar savings. Our Marathon Health center has yielded a net savings of $2.7 million since it opened in 2013. That’s a 3.3:1 ROI. ” – Gwen Scott, benefits manager, Bendix

With an onsite health center, employers can achieve the pinnacle of healthcare success: improving patient satisfaction, healthcare outcomes, and lowering the overall cost of care.

If health risk and healthcare cost reduction are an issue for your business, implementing an onsite health center will control major health risks in your employee population before they affect your workforce and your bottom line.